Another July has arrived and the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) has just concluded another annual foreign ministers' meeting. It is now hosting its yearly gathering with its global security partners, the Asean Regional Forum (ARF).

"So what?" is the oft-repeated line. Considering so little is achieved, it is easy to dismiss Asean as increasingly irrelevant. On the security front, apart from pirate attacks, outsiders have few concerns about the region. Economically, the organisation finds it extremely hard to implement anything meaningful, such as the much trumpeted trade tariff reductions.

This year, the highlight was the extension of visa-free access to citizens of all nations within the region. While undoubtedly a major step, it is hardly on a par with trying to tackle poverty or defeat terrorism. And after the host, the Malaysian foreign minister Syed Hamid Albar, rebuked Burma over its failure to democratise or to release the Nobel peace prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, the meeting's formal communique did no more than "express concern" and a "hope to see tangible progress ... in the near future".

As for the ARF, it usually attracts more headlines, in the western media at least, for the skits the leaders perform at their evening party than for any of their more substantive discussions.

And unlike most of the rest of the ever expanding alphabet soup of Asia-Pacific summitry - there is the EAS (East Asia Summit), the Apec (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation), the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) and the Shanghai Cooperative Organisation - Asean's meetings are mostly at ministerial level. This raises further questions about its relevancy.

Perhaps inexplicably, reality seems to be defying such logic. East Timor has announced it wants to join Asean. France wants to sign the organisation's Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, which would allow it to attend the ARF as an individual delegate rather than just as part of the EU. The US wants to sign the framework of an agreement designed to deepen ties between Washington and Asean.

In the case of East Timor, which is struggling to rebuild itself after weeks of anarchy, there is little alternative if it wants to engage with its neighbours multilaterally, since the only other choice, the Pacific Islands Forum, is even further off the global radar screen.

Officials have said, however, that East Timor's entry is likely to take at least five years and possibly much longer.

For other parties, particularly the EU and Canada, the benefits are less tangible.

"It's all about engagement," a western diplomat attending the meetings in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, told Guardian Unlimited. "Asean might not be of as much global significance as the Middle East, but the ARF is a great time for the ministers to get together somewhat out of the spotlight. It is also a region that cannot be ignored."

At no time was the informal approach more evident than yesterday, when the Chinese and Japanese foreign ministers ran into each other in the lavatory.

"I had meaningful discussions with Minister Li at the toilet," a Japanese official quoted his foreign minister, Taro Aso, as telling the meeting of Asian ministers, referring to his Chinese counterpart, Li Zhaoxing.

On a more serious level, China, Japan, South Korea, the USA and Russia - the dialogue partners in the six-party negotiations with North Korea - are meeting tomorrow to assess the current situation. Malaysia, Canada and Australia will also attend, to assuage Chinese concerns about going behind Pyongyang's back after the North Korean regime declined to attend.

Nothing conclusive is expected but, as an official said, "It's always good to talk".

The keen desire to be seen to be in Kuala Lumpur this week even extended as far as Iran, whose foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki, arrived unannounced today. It is thought he will not engage with anyone other than the Malaysians, but the timing of the visit sends a clear signal that Iran wants to be noticed.

Asean's existence therefore seems not only assured but, if anything, strengthened. Economic integration along the lines of the EU might still be light years away and the ARF is unlikely ever to bring the world's newspaper printing presses to a halt. But, as a forum to discuss and perhaps even resolve thorny issues quietly, it seems as good a place as any on the global stage.

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